The latest in Bruin football, basketball and other sports

Main menu

Post navigation

Weekly Answers, Pt. 4

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers…1) Great job so far John. Appreciate the hard work. Now for my question. I realize Randal Carroll was a freshman last year, however in every UCLA football game I watched I noticed they did not have Carroll or Austin(arguably the two fastest players on the team) on the field or in formations together most of the time. Was this due to inexperience or not knowing the playbook? Seems to me if they really wanted to stretch the field they would have done this more. Also, with Oregon clearly not the front runner for the Pac 10 title anymore without Masoli. Do you think the Bruins have a shot to win the Pac 10? Thanks and godbless. – ucla34
Carroll admittedly didn’t have a firm grasp of the offense, and has implied his biggest goal this offseason was to master the playbook. I think Carroll can develop into something special, but I still don’t know why he wasn’t redshirted. I think a Pac-10 title is a stretch, but they’ll be improved.

2) Will Stover have any impact next season coming off his red-shirt? What are his strengths? – Frank Bonaccorso
I think Stover is still a couple years away. He needs to get stronger and quicker, and while the little I did see of him lends to optimism, he’s not there yet.

3) Does CBH now regret not talking Chase Stanback into staying at UCLA??? – 909Bruin
I’m sure he tried, but it’s not like Stanback has become Carmelo Anthony.

4) Considering my humble analysis Jon, do you think the success of the 95 Championship caused fans to quickly call for Lavin’s head while Howland’s success following Lavins’s horrible final season has given him a Dragovician long leash? Or, am I way off base and the two bear no comparison? – BigDBruin
Basically, to even question Howland’s leash at this point is ludicrous. It’s been bad year.

5) Aside from the Drew Gordon issues earlier in the season, were there other attitude/chemistry issues with this team or was it more of a overall talent issue? – BruinBall
It was a combination of both. Chemistry issues don’t always mean players shoving each other and getting in each other’s face. Chemistry issues are revealed when a guy doesn’t make the extra pass, when a guy doesn’t hold his screen long enough, when a guy doesn’t help on defense. The team needs a lot of work.

Chace Stanback isn’t Carmelo Anthony, but UCLA definitely could have used the 10 points and 5 rebounds he averaged for UNLV.

It’s worth repeating that Howland’s “mistakes” aren’t limited to just the recruiting class of Bobo, Gordon, et al. The previous one was Kevin Love and Stanback…only!

The big issue with Howland is the revolving door of players…whether they leave for the pros or transfer, the early departures are crippling the program. If Howland can’t correct it, he’ll have to go.

Anonymous

“am I way off base” you think?
“and the two bear no comparison” this ain’t rocket science

This “humble analysis” is very Lavinian…you can figure out what that means…

Anonymous

Howland gets into the final four three years in a row and people are calling for his job? Can you name the last UCLA coach to accomplish this feat? Yeah, you have to go way back to guess who…

Anonymous

Mrs. Lavin,

Although I appreciate your work in such episodes as “You Find an Awesome Strip Club” from the hit show “Secret Girlfriend” as well as in the episode “The Script and the Sherpa” from the hit show “Entourage” your humble analysis seems to reflect your acting abilities and your choice in men…

Ted

Is Bill Self’s job in jeopardy since he lost to Northern Iowa as the overall number one seed in the second round? And maybe Howland didn’t do such a bad job this year considering how the Pac-10 is doing in the NCAA tournament so far. Might have two teams in the round of sixteen.

BRUINBEATCH

I am SOOOOO tired of you so called fans! You might as well be trojans.Your only good once anyway! I went to the games, win or lose. Where the HELL were you?Im talking football,baseball and men/women basketball!You make me f n sick SO typical HOLLYWOOD if they dont win you aint in!Grow a pair people and sport that powder blue like you did when we were on top!So sad how Pauley is so quite and empty and calling for Ben’s head after 3 final fours!You are all lucky we even got there without having to be classless like SC!I WANT TO SEE ALL OF YOU AT THE ROSE BOWL THIS YEAR!I want you to make some f n noise!For those of you who currently attend UCLA, if that f n bear gets touched again i will personally kick your lily a$$!Start making your donations and getting involved with UCLA even if it means making Dan’s seat HOTT!We are UCLA!Oh and for Pete’s sake can we raise some money for the bands ugly a$$ floral shirts maybe thats why they suck they have self-esteem issues with that shirt!Can i get a 8 CLAP IN THIS BEATCH?

BRUINBEATCH

I am SOOOOO tired of you so called fans! You might as well be trojans.Your only good once anyway! I went to the games, win or lose. Where the HELL were you?Im talking football,baseball and men/women basketball!You make me f n sick SO typical HOLLYWOOD if they dont win you aint in!Grow a pair people and sport that powder blue like you did when we were on top!So sad how Pauley is so quite and empty and calling for Ben’s head after 3 final fours!You are all lucky we even got there without having to be classless like SC!I WANT TO SEE ALL OF YOU AT THE ROSE BOWL THIS YEAR!I want you to make some f n noise!For those of you who currently attend UCLA, if that f n bear gets touched again i will personally kick your lily a$$!Start making your donations and getting involved with UCLA even if it means making Dan’s seat HOTT!We are UCLA!Oh and for Pete’s sake can we raise some money for the bands ugly a$$ floral shirts maybe thats why they suck they have self-esteem issues with that shirt!Can i get a 8 CLAP IN THIS BEATCH?

That guy

True

Semi-Pro

Our band sucks? Actually…they’re pretty good compared to most other college pep bands, certainly better than most other Pac-10 pep bands. Arizona’s pep band is probably the only one I would call “better”, but they have a set group whose members audition to be a part of it. UCLA’s pep band is put together game by game through voluntary signup by members of the larger marching band.

I do hate the “aloha” shirts they wear though. They should get to wear those rugby style shirts the yell crew wears, so YES, raise money for the band!

Archives

Archives

Comments policy

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@langnews.com.